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「キング・オブ・ザ・ウィンド」 (Kingu Obu Za Uindo)
“King of the Wind”
Continuing from last week’s first contact, the Windermeres deploy their brand new Protoculture Battleship and it’s every bit as powerful as expected. Combined with the Heinz’s Song of the Wind, the latter becomes capable of turning an entire planet’s defenses to their side while also creating a dimensional rift capable of defending against virtually all incoming fire. It’s the ultimate offensive/defensive combination, and the only weakness ends up being Heinz’s inability to sing constantly—the very thing that the members of the Delta Platoon hope to exploit… in the next episode.
This was another calm before the storm, and let’s just say the pacing’s certainly slowed down since the earlier portions of the series. The questionable decision to delay the confrontation aside, the fact that they’re doing this likely hints that there’s more episodes inbound, which makes this perhaps the only silver lining in what was a surprisingly disappointing setup.
Aside from the decision by NUNS to destroy the ruins on Ragna (which seems more likely to backfire than anything), there weren’t many notable developments this week, and the revelation that Gramia was trained by Ernest ended up an anticlimactic addition that seemed more of a “oh, by the way” footnote more than anything. Hayate having received his pendant from his father could be an interesting tidbit depending whether or not his father will play a significant part in things, but this and Mirage’s promotion felt like they were ticking off a laundry list of things that they wanted to show before the major confrontation next week, and I couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied at how things worked out here.
Looking forward, here’s hoping that next week’s fight makes the wait worth it, and I guess this is just one of those weeks where I’ll keep things short and sweet.
Preview
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@the fact that they’re doing this likely hints that there’s more episodes inbound
About 13-14 more episodes incoming 😉
I think that’s a given since it’s standard Macross. However are they doing split cour or are they going back to back? I think Frontier was back to back wasn’t it.
It has been known for quite a while actually on a few websites. Amazon Japan has Nine Blu Rays to pre order, with the Ninth released March 24, 2017.
Yep, just as i feared. They’ll go *that* route to fill the gap Messer left behind instead of a far more logical option. How are four jet fighters piloted by people with less skill than the enemies supposed to protect five *magical singer* when they are outnumbered? Why, *resolve power* of course!
When Hayate resonated with Freyja, he could have killed Bogue, but choose not too. Sure it was a naive decision to make, but it shows that he’s rapidly improving as a pilot and will probably reach ace pilot status soon. It’ll make for some interesting character development.
I think the only reason Hayate could even compete with Bogue was because of Freyja song. I don’t buy it at all that he’s going to become an ace pilot without help from Freyja, that he actually got skills to become an ace. There are so many things that bother me with this series, which is unfortunate since i thought this could be kinda interesting and different than all the previous macross shows.
Personally I think resonating with Freyja awakened the abilities he had already possessed to begin with. Hayate to me seems to have the natural talent that would make him a great pilot. I also think you’re writing Delta Platoon off too quickly. Mirage is a pretty good pilot too.
I’d rather see Mirage be the next ace pilot than Hayate.
Promoting Mirage is fine because she is probably the most qualified for Delta. What bugs me is that they didn’t even bother to replace their roster with an experienced pilot from their numerous other squadrons to at least give them some more manpower. You’d think Chaos would want the best possible allocation on Delta considering its their job to protect Walkure, their MOST IMPORTANT WAR ASSET!
I completely agree with you. In the original Max came in to fill the gap. So why didn’t they do the same here? My guess is they just want to make Hayate seems more prominent in battle, which is dumb.
In the previous episode, Zephyr suggested that Hayate’s boast about filling Messer’s role was the heat of the moment. However, now the collective fears that the series would take his bravade at face value seem to have been proven right.
As AnimeFan says, I also think it’s a way to showcase Hayate in battle, taking the easiest route.
One of the things to consider was their request for reinforcements seemed to have been denied, so ultimately there wasn’t much of a choice but to deploy with what they had.
It doesn’t excuse not filling Messer’s spot, but while they don’t have an actual man filling Messer’s position, the fact that Arad’s also out and leading the whole squadron makes me wonder if they’re not just going to have all the platoons come together to function as one larger squadron, which will automatically fill in the Delta Platoon’s holes. Hayate and Mirage’ll definitely be leading the engagement by targeting the Aerial Knight platoon we’ve seen so far, but I’m thinking they’ll only be taking on Bogue and the White Knight specifically while the other platoons end up engaging the rest.
@Zephyr
True, all the sector was denied reinforcements, but even the episode recognizes that they have a lot of people in there coming from all the cluster. including survivors from previous attacks (which, if we all start guessing to fill the plotholes, should in many cases have lost their own units) and Delta is singled out as the squadron in charge of protecting Walkure in the operation that might decide the war. The rest are explicitely said to have different targets.
In fact, that Arad is already overworked suggests that they need to fill not just one, but two posts.
Normally, I would think Macross has covered the finer details of the strategies, just that no explanation was given because it wasn’t necessary. But Delta has proved time and again that they don’t really have them covered and, worse, it’s noticeable by the audience. I can’t give them the benefit of doubt when in previous cases doubt was proven to be right.
In other anime I would’ve agree with you. But Macross is a universe that you can use “song power” to DECULTURE the tar out of enemy, so “resolve power” isn’t so out of place here.
That’s a fair point, but in no way does this have to be an exclusive decision. There is absolutely no reason to not do everything in your power as a member of Delta Platoon to protect Walkure and defeat the Aerial Knights. Restocking the ranks of the platoon can do nothing but help, so refusing to do so for any reason is some combination of arrogant, naive, and downright illogical.
Which idiot would replace Messar right now? A huge battle is incoming, Delta Platoon can’t afford to get used to a new member. Furthermore, the reinforcements have arrived so there’s no point at all to rush it as they can support the Delta Platoon if necessary.
If Messar is to be officially replaced, it will be AFTER the things calm down so the new teammate gets time to actually fit in.
Although the NUNs representative was a dick, the decision to destroy the ruins on Ragna risking destabilization of the planet) and prevent the WIndermeres from completely covering the the star cluster is a good move bonus point that they agreed to leave as an option of last resort.
So next ep Elysion does a 2nd fold back to Ragna i guess to face off againt the windemere. Also did Kieth just turn full Nazi (I will eliminate all the earthlings)?
Agreed. We are supposed to disagree with him because of his haughtiness, but frankly, all of his points made sense. Just because our cast didn’t like it, it’s not a bad decision in theory. Of course, a convenient Deus Ex Machina will show that he was wrong.
That would mean the heroes were right for the wrong reasons. Not that I expect Macross Delta to realize, though.
Sure it might be a good idea if you look at the big picture(Like the NUNs), but blowing up something that’s connected to the core of the planet is never a good idea. Worst case scenario the planet blows up. To the NUNs, it’s a risk worth taking, but not to the characters who love the planet.
Finally, Elysion launched and turned into ship mode. Mecha pron right there. From comparing the size of the Island ship vs. Elysion, I say the latter might be a full sized Macross class ship after all/or even bigger than Battle Frontier/Battle Galaxy (or that Ragna’s docked Island ship might be one of the smaller ones which makes Elysion look big).
Next week: Walkure will probably sing new songs, or open up with “Love Halation the War” or “Walkure Attack”
The landed city section seems to be one of the earliest of the city classes as it’s been shown elsewhere older models (pre-Macross 5/7) didn’t have the protective clamshell. Based on the scale of Battle7 to City 7, Elysion looks to be roughly the size of a New Macross Class. Assuming it came in with the original fleet it could be an older intermediate design step between the old SDFN series and current NMC series. And if we take this logic train all the way to the station, with all the visual similarities it could also make the Quarter class a sort of “dieshrink” compact sister model of the Elysion class made with newer (and therefore smaller) technology. Nerd mode off.
It’s been stated from a recent interview that the Elysion is not as big as it seems. Its stands around the size of the Burj Khalifa or the Dubai Tower which over 830m tall.
This sure was a cliffhanging episode for me.
Based on the this episode I’m guessing, Show Spoiler ▼
Not a spoiler… but just a guess. What do you guys think?
ops double post.
🙁 my bad.
The entire scene with the NUNS top brass irritates me. Blowing up the ruins is a rational choice for NUNS, considering how badly the war is going and they have little other options to protect BILLIONS of people including innocent civilians. So instead of showing it as a cold, rational, desperate decision, the NUNS are portrayed as smug jack-asses. Might as well just have a neon-light sign on top of them saying “THESE GUYS ARE WRONG! GET IT YET AUDIENCE!?!?”.
Meanwhile, we get more development for the Windermere especially for Gramia and it somehow implies that this mind-enslaving, racist, nationalist, jackass is a worthy opponent? What the hell!? These portrayals are entirely backwards!
I’m sorry, they can’t denounce the NUNS and praise Windermere when they’ve been portraying the Windermere as smug racists who are only marginally better than the Third Reich! Hell even one of them said he would willingly GENOCIDE THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE! The writers are desperately trying to make the Windermere sympathetic but its been botched so badly. The only one I like now is Roid because he is actually looking into less a-hole options.
And thus, the circle comes to a close and Windermere becomes Imperial Japan In Space both in-universe and out-universe:
“Look, they’re not so bad! They are racial supremacists and commit horrifical war crimes, but they are sympathetic because they were bullied by foreign powers in the past, some of them show honorable attitudes and at least they aren’t building death camps (please forget all that about using biological weapons on innocent civilians, subjugating the peoples they claim to “liberate” and enslaving those who they consider inferior). Also, did I mention they were nuked?”
At this point, Macross Delta could reveal that indeed the WMDs used in Windermere were a nefarious plan of the NUG and I would still think that they aren’t sympathetic or justified in the slightest.
I cannot disagree completely with NUNS’ decision, since they’re making the hard choice of MAYBE destroying a planet to save all of the other planets in the region; But the messenger made it look irrational, as if he had a personal grudge with Chaos (or or just with Arad).
i bet their Windernere gigantic battleship can also transform into an humanoid form. let see. this big body part screams like “i am the chest body part”
BTW I have a feeling that Mikumo will die at some point – her comment about knowing better than anyone the toll the Song of the Wind takes, not to mention that ‘too awesome to live’ vibe she’s been giving since the beginning seem to imply she’s on borrowed time.
If they do that, I rage! Unfortunately I got the same vibe in the exact same scene you mentioned.
Funny you say that, because the vibe i’m getting is Mikumo will somehow be affected by the wind song, and do a face-heel turn and work with Windermere as a result.
@AnimeFan
I had that same thought, but with Freyja. It’s not uncommon in storytelling for the guy to rescue someone important/a love interest who is being held captive from mortal danger. I don’t really consider the danger she’s in with Walkure when she sings during a battlefield as applicable in this case.
They’ve shown so much of Windermere thus far that I think Freyja will have a homecoming there.
And with that being said, if they force Frejya to work with them somehow, they’d probably need Mikumo..
I’m looking forward to seeing what the next opening song will be soon. The current one has grown on me, and I’ll be sad to see it changed, but such is life 🙂
I prefer to be surprised with OPs so I didn’t search out who was doing it lol.
It’s ironic that in Frontier the bastards who tried to enslave half the galaxy were considered beyond saving, all the pity reserved for their victims, while Windermere gets a far more sympathetic treatment in Delta.
I wonder, if Messer had been turned into a mindless enemy drone instead of being killed, would the series have held the same attitude? (Now I realize that it could have been a great dramatic development).
In any case, final battle in Ragna it is. My guess is that something will happen with the ruins that will put the whole war effort of both sides on standby. Until the next season, that is.
Personally I think either Windermere will gain a significant victory, or a new more powerful enemy will appear which may force the two groups to work together.
@Until the next season, that is.
I didn’t think there was a next season. As far as I’m aware the show will continue to air weekly for the next 13-14 weeks. I’ve seen upcoming episode titles that suggest this.
perhaps they blow up the Ruins, and we get something similar what happen at Windermere. This Scar they always show us, with this thunderbolt output.
That’s a fascinating possibility. Someone tampering with Protoculture ruins in Windermere, causing a great disaster.
But who and why? That shady corporation, perhaps? Some desperate Windermerean trying to find something to use against the NUNS? The NUNS that wanted to take over Windermere to study the ruins and it blew up in their face?
Things don’t look too good for Delta.
– They’re piling things up on Arad’s shoulders.
– Mirage getting second in command (logical choice, btw) means they’ll have a relatively inexperienced flight leader. The previous point probably results in her having to lead them against a larger and more capable flight.
– The reason for Hayate’s success so far also sounds like the reason he got so much criticism from Messer. I suspect he’s going down next week. He really needs to learn more from Mirage and/or join the Walkure in their dance practice.
– Johnson’s win rate is awful. Looking at the circumstances, it doesn’t look like he’s in a favorable position. Looks like luck is still not on his side. Never discount luck, especially when you’re the underdog.
Not sure how many things can go wrong for the Windermere side, but it looks like there’s a lot more on Delta’s side.
The one thing that I enjoyed a lot in this episode was the Macross World background building. For some reason, I found it neat that, the Elysion Fleet landed on Ragna and then proceeded to break apart to protect other worlds that they also found out that was inhabited. THen years later down the line the threat got big enough where they had to recalled the entire Elysion Fleet to do battle.
As for destroying the Protoculture ruins, I think that is a smart play by NUNS itself. It’s a surgical strike that cost the least amount of casualties. The Windermere using Protoculture ruin to turn everyone into vars? Answer? Destroy Proto culture ruins. Don’t derp and throw away lives for nothing. Such practicality haven’t been seen by the NUNS fleet for quite some time.
Now I have a crazy crazy theory regarding Lady M and why NUNS even gives her respect. I think she’s a surviving Protoculture that they found. Since according to the information presented to us so far, it look like the Elysion Cluster was the very last place the Protoculture visited. I mean Mikumo obviously know a lot of thing going on, she even know what that Protoculture ship was capable of according to her flash back. Her hair also move around like winderemere runes but none of the pointy type. NUNS high command could simply respect her in exchange for info on more protoculture tech that she knows of… but like I say crazy theory.
Now for some Crackpot theories.
1. Hayate dad is Alto. But it’s only been 8 years since Frontier you say? Well, have you forgot that ALto was jacked by the QUeen at the final battle? That being the case… I mean, it doesn’t take long for a Vajara to grow? The queen also be constantly singing the song “Aimo, Aimo” all the time and might have mated with Alto. ~_^
That would explain Hayate hair color, his natural fold like move like a vajara.
😛
2. Mikumo is a windmeremereian but her tentacle runes is not in her hair. It’s in her pubes. 😛
3. Hyatate might come up with another dance call the Immelman Twerk.
That is all.
3. More like the Immelman-Jenius Tango, I hope
Here’s another theory as to Hayate’s parantage ..
Hayate’s mum is Sheryl and his dad is someone from Windermere. As people from Windermere live for only 30 years it would make sense that they grow up quicker. Is Hayate’s and Freyja’s age listed anywhere?
@Scruffy
@Hayate’s mum is Sheryl
Lol, that’s impossible. Delta takes place 8 years after Frontier.
He has no Rune unless it’s in his pubes?
Actually, I’m questioning the love triangle angle (or lack thereof), Mirage obviously has some unresolved feelings for Hayate, but that quiet moment where Hayate assures Freya and Mirage that he has their back respectively; I can see the chemistry between him and Freya, but not with him and Mirage.
Makes me wonder how the writers are going to pull of the love triangle convincingly. (Or maybe they can’t)